LPE Blog

Heterodox Corporate Laws in the Global South

Heterodox Corporate Laws in the Global South

In the face of increasing inequality, legal regimes in the Global North have started to grapple with the distributive consequences of corporate law. They would do well to look to the Global South, where several jurisdictions have pioneered heterodox approaches to corporate law that take into account a broad range of public policy and distributional objectives.. . .

Emancipatory Horizons in Tenant Organizing

Emancipatory Horizons in Tenant Organizing

Earlier this year, a landlord presented a group of Kansas City tenants with the following choice: renew their leases at triple the rent or move. But rather than accept these terms, the tenants came together and declared “we won’t go.” This rejection of the options presented to them, originally a reflection of their desperation, soon became. . .

Seven Reactions to Biden’s Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence

Seven Reactions to Biden’s Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence

President Biden’s recent executive order on artificial intelligence addresses a wide array of concerns about the nascent technology: risks to national security, the use of deceptive AI-generated content, market concentration, and much else. To help sort through the meaning and implications of these various directives, we asked seven experts for their. . .

Weekly Roundup: December 1, 2023

Weekly Roundup: December 1, 2023

Raúl Carrillo offers an LPE perspective on the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, and Fanna Gamal explains what Critical Race Theory can teach us about non-reformist reforms. Plus, a cool job alert (with the LPE Project), a hot new issue of the Boston Review, Vincent Bevins on the story of neoliberalism and Chile, and Noah Rosenblum on the dangers and. . .

Upon the Conviction of the Villain Sam Bankman-Fried

Upon the Conviction of the Villain Sam Bankman-Fried

Earlier this month, Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. His conviction should not, however, be seen as any kind of victory. For the past three years, SBF successfully exploited a financial regulatory system stuck in older ways of thinking and increasingly incapable of averting illicit finance in the platform economy.. . .

A Call for Institutional Fairness on Palestine

A Call for Institutional Fairness on Palestine

Institutional leaders must affirm that advocacy for Palestinian rights, as well as concern for and celebration of Palestinian lives, is squarely within the sphere of legitimate discourse.

Weekly Roundup: November 17, 2023

Weekly Roundup: November 17, 2023

Amna Akbar and Karl Klare kick off a new symposium on non-reformist reforms. Plus, an open letter on the right of students to engage in political speech on Israel/Palestine, an interview with Lina Khan, upcoming LPE events on power-building for the long haul and debt collection in American Medicine, hot new articles from Maggie Blackhawk and Marshall Steinbaum,. . .

What Non-Reformist Reforms Meant to Us

What Non-Reformist Reforms Meant to Us

Amna Akbar’s recent article on non-reformist reforms foregrounds a question that the LPE movement often bypasses: namely, how might systemic social change occur in the 21st century? However, in considering this question, the article erases nearly fifty years of theory-work, which has much to teach the legal left as it recovers the notion of non-reformist reform.. . .

A Horizon Beyond Legalism: On Non-Reformist Reforms

A Horizon Beyond Legalism: On Non-Reformist Reforms

Today’s left social movements are increasingly turning to a framework of “non-reformist reform” to guide their efforts to build a just society. But what do non-reformist reforms require? How do they differ from liberal and neoliberal approaches to reform? And what role do law and lawyers have to play in advancing such reforms?

Weekly Roundup: November 10, 2023

Weekly Roundup: November 10, 2023

Zephyr Teachout on the democratic consequences of algorithmic wage discrimination, Jerry Davis on the disappearance of public corporations from the American economy, and Maryam Jamshidi on the creeping authoritarianism that underlies Florida’s decision to ban local chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine. Plus, a happy hour in DC, upcoming events. . .

Is This the End of Corporate Capitalism?

Is This the End of Corporate Capitalism?

Though dominant features of the American economy for most of the 20th century, corporations have become less numerous in the past three decades. Meanwhile, neglected alternatives to the public corporation have proven surprisingly durable. Given the manifest pathologies of shareholder capitalism, the combination of these two trends may suggest pathways out. . .

Surveillance Wages: A Taxonomy

Surveillance Wages: A Taxonomy

Algorithmic wage discrimination – paying workers personalized wages using opaque and fluctuating formulas – is common in the gig economy. But with the recent development of intrusive new forms of employee surveillance, such wage-setting practices will be coming soon to a workplace near you. This post offers a brief taxonomy of five different forms. . .